14 DAY TRIAL // When announcing the financial results for the third quarter of the financial year 2009, Apple also stated that its iPod had seen less traction on the market compared to the same period a year before. This was the first time when the company posted decline in the sales of the product, and it seems that the results were influenced by a smaller appeal of some of the iPods, namely of the iPod nano, iPod shuffle and iPod classic models, compared to the iPod touch.
Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer also stated that the less-than-impressive sales of the franchise were “the reason we developed the iPod Touch. We expect our traditional MP3 players to decline over time as we cannibalize ourselves with iPod Touch and iPhone.” The company has already lowered the channel inventory of its series by about 400,000 units, Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook stated, and it seems that the shrinking of the market for traditional MP3 players also has something to do with the move.
“Customers continue to embrace this outstanding platform experience, which has been increasingly enhanced by the tremendous offering for the App Store,” Oppenheimer said. During the three-month period ended June 27, Apple's iPod touch registered an increase in sales of around 130 percent, while the iPhone and iPod touch have been sold in more than 45 million units since first launched.
According to Apple, the traditional iPods will see even lower traction on the market, yet it should be mentioned that the company accounts for around 70 percent of the MP3 player market, while 50 percent of the iPod buyers are new customers. This means that the market might not shrink as much as the company anticipates, though there are great chances that only newer models will appeal so much to users. In case it feels that the older iPod models do not have too many chances on the new market, Apple might soon slash them, coming forth with a new version of the iPod touch.